How I got an A: Dominik, Year 13

English literature

This subject requires both meticulous practice in essay writing and understanding of the text in question. Study subjects like English literature or language might be an easy pass in IGCSE, but A-Level will demand more; especially when it comes to an A grade.

• First off, you will have to remember many literary devices. There are overwhelmingly many, as well as overly complex and rarely used ones. I would focus on the ones that are most commonly used and then if you obtained that foundation, go for the rarer ones. I remembered them by using flash cards. I would go through these flashcards every day before my exams and could confidently rehearse them in my exam. You have your own learning technique; it is up to you.

• Another crucial factor is simply practice. Draft essays, even if it is not homework, at least once a week to refine your writing. It is especially crucial to draft many essays close to the exams so when you face the paper, everything you write down comes from muscle memory. Teacher feedback is especially important too. Do not draft many essays without having the teacher evaluate them. You will keep writing your mistakes again. Let the teacher correct the essay and use your teacher’s feedback to improve on your next essay.

• Next you will have to know the context of the literature you are examined in. Whatever literature you will learn this year in poetry, prose and drama, an understanding of the writer, characters and text will dramatically improve your analysis on these extracts. You will learn most of this information in class of course. Although, I would recommend reading the books in question again before the exam and preparing a summary sheet for all the characters, so you can apply that contextual information to your analysis

Biology

This is a content heavy subject which challenges your ability to remember information, as well as your practical skills in experiments.

• Most would argue that it is a difficult content heavy subject, but I did not really find this to be the case. What I did in this subject was in- dependently prepare revision recourses after each topic we have gone through, using the syllabus for guidance. Each of the 11 topics has a section in the syllabus which provides you with the precise information you need to know for that topic which will come up in the exams. I based my flashcards on these. For the information, I would use the textbook and save my exams. After that I would rehearse my flashcards every day until I could remember everything. That is why I found Biology to not be a particularly difficult subject to pass.

• However, practical skills for experiments are also important. You will do experiment practice with your teacher. What you can do independently though is reading and rehearsing the practical skills section in your textbook as well. In the exam, knowing which experiment you will do is good, but focus and calmness will be necessary as well. I messed up in my practical exam, because I panicked (my high marks from the other 2 papers still bolstered me to an A nonetheless), so prepare yourself mentally as well (meditation or some breathing exercises; just be confident).

• The last very essential thing is to practice past papers. If you answer many past papers, you will get to understand what information the questions want from you. You do not want to write time-wasteful paragraphs on one question, because you do not exactly know what information will get you marks. So, practice past papers...especially close to your exams, everyday!

Psychology

It is a subject that indefinitely challenges your memory to remember every nitty-picky detail from studies. You have the AQA (Assessments and Qualifications Alliance) examination now which is different from what I had last year, but I guess the content will not diverge too strongly.

• There is one chapter about the research methods. Learn them. You will need to apply these with their pros and cons to evaluate studies, understand their issues and debates and write your own studies. I simply wrote the definition in the textbook down on flashcards and read them every day until I remembered all of them.

• The other chapters are divided into approach- es (of which you must learn their theory) and 3 studies per approach. You will notice that each study will be divided into their back- ground, aim, method, procedure, results, conclusion, evaluation and so on... What I did is prepare my revision recourses according to that structure (my flashcards; I wrote the aim of the study on one card, on another the method etc...). I would rehearse my flashcards on these studies every day until I remembered them. You will need to remember as much detail as possible to get as many marks as possible; if the textbook does not provide enough detailed information which I found to be a hindrance last year, ask your teacher for more information resources.

• Of course, past paper practice is especially important as well. It will lead to remembering the information you learned by applying it to questions and help you understand what the questions want from you. Also, for the section that requires you to create an experiment, consult your teacher for how to structure it in such a way so that it will get you all the marks.

• As a last note, psychology has the reputation of being one of the easiest subjects to pass. I did not have too much trouble with it, because of my revision techniques. However, many of my classmates did not get their desired grades, which leads me to infer that a revision technique to remember all this bulk of information is essential for you to get an A in this subject. Be it flashcards, mind maps or else, find the right revision technique for you and start preparing these as early as possible to be as confident as possible in your exams.